A family highlight of this month was when Ryan and Katie and their family came to stay with us for the week prior to General Conference. Now that all three of their girls are 8 and above, they wanted to give them a conference experience. Katie had secured tickets for the Saturday afternoon session so that was the purpose of their trip.
They came in the Saturday before so they could spend time with us and do the Utah thing. That night, we quickly ate dinner and then drove to BYU to watch the BYU men's volleyball team play their last game. It was fun to watch even though they lost all three matches.
Sunday, we had everyone up to dinner (17 in all), including Jon and Mindi and Todd and Kailee and families. We were glad for the chance to be together.
Aria was, of course, the big hit with the girls.
It was crazy hair day at school the next day for Jon and MIndi's girls so they were coloring their hair with markers
On Monday, we took Ryan and Katie and family to dinner at Cafe Rio before they rode the Heber Creeper.
Grace and Nathan were fascinated with the train at Dairy Keen.
Grace became a young Sister Millar by sporting my missionary tag.
Tuesday, being our day to feed the missionaries, we decided to make individual pizzas together. It was a great idea as everyone could put on their pizza exactly what they wanted. As they cooked we had a chance to visit around the table, eating some fruits and vegetables. Afterwards, the elders gave a message as we all gathered around in the living room.
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| Listening intently to the video message presented by the elders. |
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Enough snow to build a snowman -
Typical Spring break in Utah |
Each day Ryan would go to McDonald's to work. it was the only place in town where the internet was fast enough to let him access his work computer in Oregon. The rest of the family would play around at the house until after lunch when they would take off for Provo to do something fun. (Because we had teaching appointments each night, we stayed in Heber to do our missionary work.) They visited with Todd and Kailee on one day, and Jon and Mindi on another day, as well as visiting the Bean museum and the art displays at the MOA on BYU campus. Of course, the weather wasn't the greatest - quite cold and even snowing one afternoon. It didn't seem to bother the kids too much.
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Dressed in their new dresses
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On Saturday, the girls got all dressed up in their new dresses, purchased at a little boutique here in Heber City. They left around 11 for the 2 o'clock session while Ryan and Nathan stayed here with us. Nathan played while Ryan finished cleaning up the downstairs. We all watched a little of the afternoon conference session until it was time to go to Salt Lake to meet Katie and the girls. We decided to meet them at the food court at City Creek Mall, right across the street from temple square. It was a good thing we got there early enough to find us a place to sit as the whole place was a zoo as soon as conference let out. It seems everyone had the same idea of grabbing a bite to eat before going home. It took a while to get food for everyone but we were in no big hurry. We were sad when the time came to have to say good bye to Ryan and Katie and family. They were leaving directly from there to travel to Winnemucca where they would spend the night before heading home to Medford the next day.
A monumental event in the lives of my family took place at the end of the month - my Dad turned 100. He was born March 29,1917. We were so afraid a year and a half ago that we would lose him so this birthday was a great blessing for all of us. It is amazing how alert and sharp he still is and how determined he is to walk on his own again. He is up to date on the latest technology so we face timed him on his birthday and had a wonderful conversation. We are so blessed by Dad and his great example to all of us.
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| The shirt says, 'This guy is 100 years old.' |
One weekend in the middle of the month, we went down to Highland and took Jon and MIndi and family out to dinner. They are still in the middle of remodeling the home they are living in so they are without a kitchen. Mindi is bringing in fast foods or cooking in a crock pot. We thought the best thing we could do for them is treat them to a dinner. We went to the Texas Roadhouse and everyone seemed to enjoy their meals and we enjoyed being with them. We followed dinner up with a trip to a great yogurt place nearby. Lots of good flavors. We love spending time with family.
The rest of the month involved some wonderful missionary experiences. The greatest was the baptism of Rick Kinsie. He is an older gentleman who was excommunicated 40 years ago. He had been in prison and on drugs during that time and finally realized he needed the gospel in his life. Both he and his wife would attend our discussions and seemed to love having us come. As he gave up chewing tobacco, we began to see the light of Christ enter his eyes and his whole countenance seemed to change. He was finally able to be baptized on Thursday, March 30th. It was an incredible affair. He had bought a new suit and looked amazing as did Carolyn, his wife. The spirit was so strong, especially as he bore his testimony of the atonement of Jesus Christ and of the gospel. The Chapels, the couple who were teaching him before us, came and said they hardly recognized them because they looked so different. That's what living the gospel of Jesus Christ can do for people. He and Carolyn were able to go the the Saturday morning session of conference with the Roneys, a ward member and friend. We hope all will continue to progress with them.
We found two new investigators this month, Jessie and Jimmy. The 15th ward mission leader, Taylor Woodruff, introduced us to these two and they immediately accepted our invitation to teach them the gospel. Jimmy just got out of prison and Jessie is a non member. Jessie is the girl friend of Jimmy's brother. We started out teaching them together but found it much better to teach them separate as Jessie had so many questions and we had to teach in a more elementary way then Jimmy needed. We have developed an incredible relationship with both of them and we feel the spirit very strongly when we teach. Jessie knows that what we are teaching her is true and feels that she was brought to Utah for the purpose of hearing about the gospel of Jesus Christ. She hasn't committed to baptism yet as she has many things in her life that need to be taken care of but we feel certain that it will happen eventually.
We have been working with a Sister Hoopes and have spent several hours in her home helping her organize her things. This month she, again, solicited our help with a yard sale. She asked us to come help her put things out on the lawn of a home she owns on Main Street. She needed to sell what she could before declaring bankruptcy due to a foreclosure of her funeral home business. We got there about 10:30, along with our young elders, and began setting things out on the lawn. It wasn't long before people started stopping and buying things. We gave out several pass-a-long cards and the elders even got a referral for the missionaries in Park City. It was a long day but Teri, Sister Hoopes, made a lot of money and was grateful for our help. Just before dark, we returned to help her put the unsold items back into the house. Since then, the elders and ourselves have had a couple of discussions with her and her daughter, Aubrey. It always good to be of service. Service opens door to the missionary work.
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We were even a delivery service. A lady bought this
rocking chair but had no way to get it home. We volunteered
to take it to her home and when we did we had a most interesting
discussion with her husband as he made his homemade beer. |
In the last couple of weeks of March, I received gifts from two people we visited. On one of our visits with the Lake Creek 2nd ward mission leader, we went to an older couple's home up in Timberlakes, the Denners. They were very friendly and we had a wonderful visit. They are wood workers and make some beautiful things out of wood - bowls, vases, jewelry, and even an earring holder. As we were leaving, the gentleman presented me with one of his earring holders.
The next week we went to our regular appointment with Sandra Verbino, a non member sister who knows the church is true, attends sacrament meeting often, has had all the discussions several time, but won't commit to being baptized. On one occasion this month, we challenged her again to set a date to be baptized. She said that she would be baptized in December. We questioned her on that as she had previously said she would consider June. Her response was that if she was baptized in June we would quit coming to see her and she didn't want that. We assured her we would continue to visit her. She obviously likes us coming by weekly. On one of our visits, she brought out a box with jewelry that she had made. She had me go through it and pick out some earrings and then insisted I take a necklace set too. So sweet.
On one Friday this month, we were invited out to dinner by Brother and Sister Myres of the Wild Mare ward. He said he was going to invite other people from his ward and wanted us to come. We all met at a local Italian restaurant, Vito's, and had a wonderful meal. There were 13 of us there and Brother Myres treated us all. We wondered what the missionary purpose would be of such a gathering. We found out at the end of the evening when the sister sitting next to Paul leaned over and asked if we would visit her and her inactive husband. Of course, we said we would. We also met several single sisters. We have visited most of them, now, in their homes to get to know them and see if there was anything ourselves or the young elders could do for them. A very worthwhile dinner engagement - and delicious to boot.
This mission is turning out to be a wonderful experience. Now that we have settled in on a routine and don't feel guilty if we are not out visiting every hour of every day, it's quite enjoyable and very rewarding as we see people's lives change.
At the end of the month, we held another Russia Moscow Mission reunion. We were delighted to host it again this time here in Heber. We met at the ward building for a wonderful meeting where we heard about the success of missionary work in Russia despite the law prohibiting proselyting. Sister Porter, the former area president's wife, came to speak about her late husband the the miracle of his life and death...a very uplifting and inspiring example of continued service despite major health issues. We then came to our home for eating and visiting. We estimated we had about 120 in attendance. Luckily, this time, some of them went downstairs so it didn't seem as crowded as when we did this in October. Such a blessing to have developed so many wonderful relationships during our time in Russia.
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| Sister Simmons recently engaged |
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| Elder Hoffman soon to be married |
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| Sister Shepherd, and Sister Taylor, also recently engaged |
Some of our other favorite missionaries - Elders Knight, Braun, Bradford (Left) and Sisters Simmons, Johnson, and King (Right)
And then there is Aria - always growing and changing....and so darling!
Despite the unpredictable weather, we have had some great things happen this month. It was General Conference April 1 and 2. Ryan and Katie left on April 1st, right after the Saturday afternoon session. We had the privilege of attending the Sunday morning session at the conference center with one of our investigators, Sandra Verbino. We had a lovely visit as we drove to and from Salt Lake and the conference was wonderful. We went early to hear the Tabernacle Choir broadcast which was delightful. Hopefully Sandra felt the spirit of the meeting and gleaned an increase in testimony from the messages presented. 
Later that week, we had the privilege of meeting with one of our Russian young single adults, Inessa. She attended our institute and pathway classes for two semesters before leaving on her mission to St. Petersburg. She hadn't returned before we left so it was so great to visit with her again. She was on a break from Rexburg, Idaho where she is attending BYU-I. She hopes to come to Provo this summer, work, and then attend BYU in January. She is a special person so we hope things work out for her.
At the end of the month was my birthday. It's hard to believe I'm 72. The spirit doesn't feel that old but my body often does and, then, when I look in the mirror I realize I'm no spring chicken anymore. Oh well, it's all in the plan. We had a district meeting on my birthday so Sister Gordon made me a birthday cake for all to share. It was so sweet of her to take time out of her busy week to make a carrot cake, with a temple on top. After the meeting we went to the temple and visited a brother at the hospital whose wife was in intensive care. At 5:30, we met Jon and Mindi and Todd and Kailee for dinner at Pizza Factory. A great day for sure.
The day after my birthday, I drove to Provo to do some shopping. Chico's was having a 40% off everything sale so I wanted to take advantage of those reduced prices. I found a couple of skirts and a pair of black dress pants. I also stopped at a couple of other stores and found a jacket, a scarf, a blouse and a knit top. Finding clothes for the summer that look good on this old body is no easy task. That evening, we picked up Kay and Marv Rust and drove back to Provo for dinner at LaJolla Groves and a musical at the Orem Hale Family Theater. We saw Betty Blue Eyes. It was hilarious. A wonderful evening.
